{"id":534652,"date":"2026-05-18T08:26:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T07:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?post_type=crypto_guide&#038;p=534652"},"modified":"2026-05-20T08:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T07:54:37","slug":"what-is-usdc","status":"publish","type":"crypto_guide","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/guides\/what-is-usdc\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is USDC?"},"author":1645,"featured_media":534653,"template":"","guide_category":[81288],"guide_series":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.9 (Yoast SEO v21.9.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is USDC? Stablecoin Guide for 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is USDC? 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